Contributor:
Takeharu Kato
Takeharu Kato has been a practicing lawyer at Hokkaido Godo Law Office in Sapporo, Japan since 2004. Besides dealing with general civil cases, he is engaged in activities supporting LGBTQI+ community. He is a member of a legal team of “Marriage for All” lawsuit in Hokkaido and a director of Marriage For All Japan, which is a campaign organization working for the realization of marriage equality in Japan.
“…I hope that this will be an opportunity for Japan to become actively involved in the ERC.”
Takeharu Kato
This is my first time to participate in the ERC. I have attended many CSO-only conferences such as ILGA, but I had never attended a meeting where government representatives also participated, so it was a very valuable experience for me.
Unfortunately, Japan is not a member state of the ERC, but for the first time, the Japanese Ambassador to Germany participated as a representative from the Japanese government, and I hope that this will be an opportunity for Japan to become actively involved in the ERC.
The highlight of the conference for me personally was the round table session on “The Role of Courts in Advancing LGBTQI+ Rights and the Role of Strategic Litigation” where I reported on the “Marriage for All” lawsuits and the activities of Marriage For All Japan.
It was a great pleasure to share with participants from countries around the world the accomplishments of our campaign to legislate same-sex marriage, not only through litigation, but also through social awareness, business partnerships, and lobbying activities.
I hope that Japan will follow Thailand in becoming a member state of the ERC, and I will continue to lobby the Japanese government to this end.
Other Reflection Pieces:
Reflection from Indonesia:
Purba Widnyana
Reflection from Nepal:
Sarita K.C.
Reflection from Pakistan:
Mahnoor Chaudhary
